What Does Acts 13:43 Mean in the King James?
Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The gathering breaks apart, but they are persuaded to remain with God’s favor.
THE MEANING
The assembly ends, yet some people stay close and are urged to remain in God’s favor. The verse pictures favor as an ongoing place to dwell, not a passing encounter.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that God’s favor is only a doorway at the start, something to outgrow or leave behind once the real journey begins.
THE ROOT
προσμένειν
pros-menein
GROWS FROM
μεν- (men-, from μένω, menō)
Remain, stay; προσ- (pros-, toward or with) adds the sense of remaining with or continuing in something.
The word translated “continue” grows from the verb for remaining: they are persuaded to stay with God’s favor. English can make continuation sound like effortful progress, while the root pictures an ongoing nearness.
ALSO GROWS
menō: Remain, abide
μένω
This is the verb beneath the compound in the verse: continuing is a form of staying.
epimenō: Continue, remain in
ἐπιμένω
This related compound uses the same remain-stem for persisting in something.
prosmenō: Remain with, continue with
προσμένω
This is the verb used here; its form carries the sense of staying with God’s favor.
χάρις
charis
GROWS FROM
χαρ-
char-
Favor, pleasing kindness, a favor freely given.
The word translated “grace” belongs to a family that also names granting favor and the gift that comes from it. Beside the call to remain, it presents God’s favor as something received and stayed within.
ALSO GROWS
charizomai: Grant freely, show favor
χαρίζομαι
This verb expresses favor being given, revealing the generous movement within the word for grace.
charisma: Freely given gift, gracious endowment
χάρισμα
This related word names what is given through favor, showing that favor can take tangible form.
THE PATTERN
God’s favor is a sustaining place in which life remains and grows.
For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.THE THREAD
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.Acts uses προσμένω (prosmenō, remain with), while John uses μένω (menō, remain or abide); both grow from the same Greek root. Acts gives this remaining a place, God’s favor, while John shows remaining as the relationship in which life bears fruit.
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